Credit cards get declined for various reasons, ranging from fraud concerns to missed payments and maxed out credit lines. It’s important to determine why your credit card was rejected because this will dictate your options moving forward.
Top Reasons Your Credit Card Might Get Declined
- Your credit card is expired
- You haven’t activated your card
- Your credit card has been cancelled
- Your credit line has been reduced
- You went over your credit limit
- Your purchase appears “suspicious”
- You’ve missed payments
- There’s an authorized hold
- You didn’t enter your information correctly
- The primary account holder made changes
- Your credit card format isn’t recognized
- The card reader malfunctioned
- Your credit card was physically damaged
Your credit card is expired
Despite the fact that we’ve typed in or recited our card expiration date countless times, we still often forget and attempt to use our card past its valid period. While your credit card may continue to work after it has expired, this is the exception rather than the rule and an expired card is still a common reason for a transaction to get declined. Your issuer will automatically send you a new card when your old one expires, if you have not received one you should contact the issuer because the new card could have fallen into the hands of a fraudster.
You haven’t activated your card
When you get a new credit card, it will bear a sticker instructing you to activate the plastic by calling or visiting the issuer’s website. If you skip this step and attempt to make a purchase, the transaction may get declined.
Your credit card has been cancelled
Due to a variety of reasons – whether it’s theft, fraud, delinquency, missed payments or inactivity – your card could have been cancelled. Either the notification announcing this change has not yet arrived or you may have missed it, thinking the letter was junk mail.
Your credit line has been reduced
Credit card companies are allowed to reduce your credit limit at any time and do not even have to provide notification unless the change brings your credit line below an existing balance. Thus, it’s conceivable that you could go to make a purchase thinking you have plenty of available credit, only to find yourself on the wrong end of a declined transaction.
You went over your credit limit
“Maxing out” your credit card is the most commonly assumed reason for a declined transaction. This means that you have used all of your available credit and will need to make a payment before being able to spend again.
Your purchase appears “suspicious”
Credit card companies are constantly on the lookout for fraudulent activity on consumers’ accounts. Not only do they want to mitigate fraud as a customer service, but issuers and merchants are the ones who are liable for fraudulent charges – not you – so they want to save themselves money as well.
There are a number of different types of account activity that can trigger a credit company’s fraud monitoring system, including purchases made outside of your normal geographic area, numerous transactions in a short period of time, abnormally expensive purchases, and large purchases made soon after small ones (as thieves often do that to test out a stolen card).
One good thing is that all major credit cards come with a $0 liability guarantee. This means that consumers are not responsible for unauthorized transactions on lost or stolen credit cards.
You've Missed payments
If you become delinquent on your credit card bill, the issuer may shut off your ability to make new purchases in order to prevent you from incurring more debt and prompt you to make a payment. As long as you have enough money in your bank account, setting up automatic payments can ensure that you won’t miss a payment again.
There’s an authorized hold
Hotels, car rental companies and other service providers often put holds on customers’ credit cards to ensure they’ll receive payment in the event the customer incurs any incidental charges, such as damage to their room or vehicle. These holds aren’t always processed and charged in the end, but they do monopolize a portion of your credit line for the time being.
You didn’t enter your information correctly
People often mistakenly provide the wrong credit card number, expiration date, CVV code or billing address when paying online or over the phone. All of this information must match what the credit card company has on file for a transaction to be approved.
The primary account holder made changes
This is only applicable to authorized users. If the primary account holder – typically a parent or business owner – makes changes to the account, those changes will affect you too. Therefore, if they cancelled their account, your card will be rendered unusable.
Your credit card format isn’t recognized
Many countries have graduated from the magnetic stripe credit card system to an EMV system reliant on chip-based credit cards. Cards with magnetic stripes will still work in most cases, but merchants may be hesitant to accept them due to suspicions of fraud or their unfamiliarity with how to accept them. In addition, you will need a chip-and-PIN card to make purchases at unattended kiosks such as those you might find abroad in a train station or parking garage.
The card reader malfunctioned
Sometimes the problem lies with the merchant, instead of you. It’s possible their credit card reader is damaged and having trouble processing perfectly fine credit cards. In such an instance, simply retrying your card may result in the purchase being processed.
Your credit card was physically damaged
Damage to your card could prevent it from working for in-person transactions. Fortunately, requesting a replacement credit card is easy. Just get in touch with your credit card company’s customer service department, and they’ll handle the rest.
What to Do If Your Credit Card Gets Declined
- If you’re making a purchase in person, ask the merchant to run it again. The initial failure may have been due to an issue with the merchant’s card reader.
- If you are shopping online, make sure to re-verify all of your information before resubmitting your card for payment because a typo could be at fault.
- If the transaction continues to fail, you should contact your bank or credit union to determine what’s going on and what your next course of action will be. If the reason is because you’re late on your bill, you could make a payment. Your bank or credit union could also decline the transaction believing it’s someone else using your card. If that’s the case, verify it is actually you trying to make the transaction.
To call your card’s issuer, use the number printed on the back of your credit card.
Credit Card Declined Codes
A credit card declined code is an error message that merchants see when a transaction cannot be completed successfully. There are many reasons why that may happen, and the reason dictates what the merchant should do in response. Asking the merchant which code they got when trying to run your credit card could also help you solve the problem.
Declined Credit Card Code | Explanation |
---|---|
04 | Merchant Should Keep Card |
05 | Do Not Honor |
12 | Invalid Transaction |
13 | Card Amount Is Invalid |
14 | Card Number Is Invalid |
15 | No Such Issuer |
19 | Re-Enter Information |
51 | There Are Insufficient Funds |
54 | Card Has Expired |
57 | Service Not Allowed |
61 | Customer Has Exceeded Withdrawal Limit |
62 | Restricted SIC Code |
63 | Card Is Restricted |
65 | Customer Has Exceeded Activity Limit |
78 | No Such Account Exists |
97 | Invalid CVV |
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